GIFT, the rendering of a number of Heb. and Gr. words in Scripture, was a feature of most personal encounters in the archaic-religious state. Although many of the nuances of the original meanings are lost, many of the terms can be differentiated by context. The KJV renders “gift” for twelve different Heb. words, many of which have less than four occurrences. The four most frequent are: 1. מִנְחָה, H4966, “offering,” “present,” “offering gift” (Judg 6:18, KJV “present”); 2. מַתָּנ֒, H5508, and a similar term מַתָּנָה֒, H5510, “gift” (Num 18:7, et al.); the root of both of these terms is נָתַן, H5989, the common Heb. verb “to give”; 3. שֹׁ֫חַד, H8816, “present,” “bribe” (KJV) “gift” (RSV) “bribe” (Exod 23:8, et al.); 4. תְּרוּמָה, H9556, “contribution,” usually applied to religious or votive gifts, “offering” (RSV) “offering” (KJV) “gift” (Prov 29:4), all other passages “offering.” Gifts are presented not only to one’s immediate family to mark a betrothal, marriage, birth or death, but also to superiors in political and religious hierarchy and to the palace and Temple. The ultimate gifts are those given to God as tokens of faith and dependence. However the OT insists upon the sincerity of the heart.

In the pastoral, Neolithic and Bronze Age societies of the OT gifts were almost always in kind (Gen 24:22, et al.), while in the period of the Second Commonwealth and the NT coinage is the basis of both exchange and giving. In the NT the KJV renders eight Gr. words by “gift.” Of these occurrences only three basic roots are represented. The most frequently used is Gr. δίδωμι, G1443, an ancient Indo-European term with cognates in Hittite, Sanskrit and the Pre-Italic dialects of Italy. It means simply to “give” and two NT nouns are derived from it: 1. δόμα, G1517, (Matt 7:11, et al.), and 2. δόσις, G1521, (James 1:17). Their usage is nearly interchangeable and they are modified by the identical adjectives. The other verbal root is: δωρέω, which appears in the NT only in the Middle Voice, δωρέομαι, G1563, “present,” “give” (Mark 15:45; 2 Pet 1:3 only.) Two nouns are derived from this root also, 1. δῶρον, G1565, “gift,” “present” often used of offerings (Matt 2:11, et al.), 2. δώρημα, G1564, “gift” (James 1:17; Rom 5:16). Another term used in the NT is restricted entirely to the spiritual realm of God’s blessings, χάρισμα, G5922. It is used of both physical and non-material favors. It is a term common in Hel. usage but defined in a new and specific way by the NT itself.